Israel to build in East Jerusalem

Israel's housing ministry said yesterday it plans to build 307 new homes in a settlement in East Jerusalem, drawing swift condemnation from Palestinian officials.

Tenders were published for housing units in Har Homa, a settlement to the south-east of the city on land captured by Israel in the 1967 war and later annexed. East Jerusalem is now home to around 200,000 Jewish settlers. Most of the international community does not recognise Israel's annexation of the east of the city.

The announcement comes days after the peace conference at Annapolis in the US intended to restart long-stalled negotiations on an agreement to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Palestinian officials said yesterday the tenders were in breach of the US road map for peace, which leaders from both sides agreed at Annapolis would again be the basis of talks.

Israel, however, says the road map does not apply to Jerusalem. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, said: "Israel will abide by all its obligations under the road map. Its obligations apply to the West Bank, Jerusalem is different. Jerusalem is our capital. It is Israeli sovereign territory."

However, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, wrote a letter to the quartet of Middle East negotiators - the US, the EU, the UN and Russia - saying the announcement was a violation of Israel's road map commitments, and calling Israeli settlements "the single greatest threat" to peace negotiations.

The road map calls on Israel to dismantle its furthest settlements and to freeze all settlement activity. It also calls on the Palestinians to curb violence and dismantle armed groups.